Get to Know the Word

Get to know the New Testament, its gospels and epistles (and prophecy), inside out. “Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.” Make it such a part of your life that you won’t have to wonder, “What would Jesus do?”—you’ll know.

Read the Old Testament too—not that Christians are to live according to the Law of Moses, but in order to see the context of the history, culture and prophecy into which, Father sent Jesus. This will bring astounding clarity since most of what Jesus said either directly quoted or referred to the Old Testament. Connecting the dots between the two covenants will save you from confusing, time-wasting, even oppressive rabbit trails!

My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body.
Proverbs 4:20-22

God's Pruning

Have you ever heard someone exclaim (or write), “ I was cut to the heart by what I read in Scripture”? If you’re like me, it’s been a very long time since you have. In the last several years, people I’ve encountered have been more likely to instead say, “God is teaching me so much through this sickness that I wouldn’t have learned any other way. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.“(John 15:1-3) Since the Greek words for “prune” and “clean” come from the same root, Jesus was saying that his word had pruned them already and they apparently didn’t need any other. If we stay in the Word (continually reading the New Testament and making the teachings our way of life) we won’t need any other kind* of “pruning” either. Sure, the Lord uses every situation, turning what the devil meant for evil into good,(see Romans 8:28) but it’s so much better to let the Holy Spirit convict and teach you through the Word of God.

*Persecution for Jesus’ name's sake is the kind of trial that God uses for chastening us and building character. Look for future posts on this.

Sola Scriptura

Childhood books urged me, “If you believe hard enough, whatever you wish for will come true!” Oh, how I wanted it to be so but there was always an adult around to assure me of what I had already sensed, that it just wasn’t. Later as a teen I discovered that “faith can move mountains” and began to pray in faith and received amazing answers. I learned though that faith and belief, unlike “wishing upon a star”, worked only on those things that God had promised in his word.

Sola scriptura, scripture alone, was Martin Luther’s insistence that all authority for a Christian’s life was based not on what some religious leader found advantageous, not on tradition but only on the Word of God—the Bible. Today, people tell me, “Well, I believe …”, fill in the blank with whatever they’ve been taught by “someone I respect”—therefore-it-must-be-true, without taking time to be like the Bereans who “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11) Paul wasn’t threatened, so why do Christian teachers feel threatened today? Or perhaps the person believes, "God wants me to be happy,”
making it convenient to divorce their husband or wife, regardless of what God has already said on the subject.

Just believing something, anything does not make it so. Exercising faith in God, based on his word already expressed in the Bible does!

“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)

Let’s move those mountains of sickness, poverty, evil and unbelief! Anyone game?

Christians and “The Law” (of Moses)

Saturday, a store manager told me that an item I had always found there was no longer stocked but she encouraged me to “keep checking because everything old is new again.” I was amused since my first thought was, “That means me!” Many old things (and people!) are still good and don’t need to be replaced just because something newer, flashier or more technologically up to date comes along. My grandmother’s cheese grater still grates and my late twentieth century phones can still connect me to any other phone in the world—without all the fancy features and up-charges.

However, bringing some old things forward is not only inappropriate but can be harmful, as when Christians try to put other Christians “under the Law”. Of course, I’m referring to the Law of Moses, given to Moses by God for the Jews. Even a rabbi told me that Jewish people are the only ones who God expects to follow the Law. But for all who follow Jesus, the Law was fulfilled by his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead! (Romans 10:4) and we are “not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14) Yet, Christians often still insist on requiring each other (sometimes even themselves) to be “under the Law” in various forms. Some insist on the Ten Commandments, others on tithing and still others that God punishes sins “to the third and fourth generations”.

The apostle Paul severely chastised the Galatians for following teachings that put them under the Law. He called it, “deserting the one who called you” (Gal.1: 6) “turning to a different gospel, which is no gospel at all”. (Gal. 1:7-9) Paul quoted the Law itself in saying that anyone who relied on the Law was under a curse for not keeping the entire Law—all 613 parts! (Gal. 3:10) Strong words! But they’re not mine. They’re the Word of God. God is very serious about grace—it cost Jesus a lot.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5:1)

I’ll be writing more detail on this subject in weeks to come, and don’t worry, I’ll address as well the overdose of grace that leads to license.

God's Will for Your Life

We Christians are always wondering, ”What is God’s will for my life?” Many books and workshops are eagerly sought in this mysterious quest. We think, “I just know the answer is out there somewhere, if only I could find the right formula…” Some tell us to follow our dreams while others say, “Do what you’re good at” and still others say that you never quite know because God may change it minute by minute. But God isn’t capricious--constantly changing nor is he holding out on you, keeping some big secret from you. In fact, he so much wants you to know what he wants for your life that he had it written down for you even before you were born!

As I recently wrote to a young friend, God doesn’t have a different will for each person, his will for all of us is written in the Bible (with an emphasis on the New Testament). Of course, there are details that will vary such as timing and location, etc. I’m in no way dismissing the leading of the Holy Spirit! But the first place the Holy Spirit will lead you is to that which has already been said. Do you remember your mother ever saying, “Now what did I already tell you?”

One question that comes up among young people and increasingly among the not so young is, “Am I ‘called’ to missions?” The answer is simple—yes. Jesus said,” Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19) Every Christian is called by Jesus to take the good news of his kingdom to the nations though the nations or “people groups” may very well be in your city. Your role may be to help someone else travel, supporting them in (fervent!) prayer and finances until you can take a more active role.

What field should I work/major in? Which job should I aim for?” are two other questions that confront most of us at an increasingly earlier age. Your number one calling is to be a disciple of Jesus who makes other disciples (this certainly includes worshipping him) so your primary concern should be in taking a job that doesn’t so fill your time that there’s no time left for following Jesus in every way,and gathering with other believers (this does not necessarily mean committee meetings!). You already know from scripture without having to wonder (I hope!) that it should be work that honors God and doesn’t dishonor him. There is an old teaching that all work a Christian does honors God—sorry, there’s no way that being a stripper or a manufacturer of products that harm people will ever honor God.

These are just a couple of the questions many of us have about God’s will for our lives. I’ve only skimmed the surface, but my aim is to send you back to God’s Word to get the foundational knowledge of his will—you may be surprised at how many of the details fall into place once you do. More later…